Simply Perfect

Awesome Movie

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

"Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse" or "The Testament of Dr. Mabuse" or "The Terror of Doctor Mabuse" is a West German black-and-white film from 1962, so this one has its 55th anniversary this year already. If you read the names Klingler, Fodor and Stemmle, you have a bunch of people who made this that were very experienced back then and very known too as they also worked on quite a few films that are still known today from back then. Anyway, the title is of course already a giveaway that this is one of the many German films about Dr. Mabuse and it is actually a remake of the 1933 film that was already a sound film as well. And fittingly with the popularity of the Mabuse character, it is no surprise that the likes of Gert Fröbe, Wolfgang Preiss, Rolf Eden and Harald Juhnke are in here. Also a very young Senta Berger plays the most important female character, even if this was not even from the very early days of her career. The story is similar to what you would expect if you have seen some other Mabuse stuff. It may sound a bit unfair, but I do believe that in terms of story, contents and characters you have seen all of the later Mabuse films if you have seen one of them. There is always a touch of mystery and a lot of crime. Cops investigating and nobody really ever knows how much Mabuse is involved in everything. The horror component is missing though in my opinion, even if the IMDb genre description thinks otherwise. The story here did not convince me either and as I wrote in the title of my review, this is quite a pity because the case offered potential for much more, especially also in my very subjective case because I like Fröbe quite a lot. But he just did not have the material here to shine and even his physical approach to the character was not working this time too much. The final scene with him (maybe that was a bit of horror) cannot make up for all the mediocrity before it. Having seen pretty much all the German Mabuse films (even one by Jess Franco), I must say that the character's appeal back then and still today remains a mystery to me. I give this movie here a thumbs-down as well and don't recommend watching it. 85 very forgettable minutes overall.

Perhaps I should have researched this film before purchasing it because it took a while ago understand the plot. Part of a series of films, this appears to be a combination of crime film, espionage thriller and psychological horror. It focuses on a mad doctor, being held in an institution and the impact that his genius has through possible assumed mind control. Dubbed from German into English, this features actors familiar to American audiences, and you may find yourself laughing at the sight and sounds of "Hogan's Heroes" veteran Leon Askin being dubbed with a voice white different than his own. Gert Frobe, best known to me as the comically evil Baron from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", is unrecognizable to me in the title role, but it has Bern many years since I've seen his most famous role, Goldfinger. The fact that this doesn't seem to fall into one genre of film makes it a major curiosity, but there are a few scenes which gave me pause for thought. I really wished that I had seem the previous entry. I mention this for the benefit of anybody who gets this first. Artistically, this is superb, reminding me of early German expressionism and the French new wave which lead to American film noir. The conclusion seems to have been influenced by "The Lady From Shanghai", making me wonder how Orson Welles might have fit into this. I know that I will re-visit this after seeing its predecessor(s).

This movie is so silly, you've got to love it. The way the actors keep a straight face to the nonsense their up to is absolutely delightful.There are countless great scenes to witness. My favorite one: When Inspector Lohmann studies Mabuses "secret" plans he's informed that a bank has been robbed. Immediately he pulls out the master-plan out of a heap of shabby looking pages. The "plan" is shown briefly. Do yourself a favor and push the stop-button there. You'll see some badly drawn figures, a few stars and the words "unternehmen stadbank" (operation city-bank?). That's the plan of a mastermind of crime! Watch the scene when informer "Locke" is chased by his gang. It's a very bad copy of the chase-scene in the beginning of the original version. It's good proof how good Fritz Lang actually was.

This is the 1962 remake of Fritz Lang's 1933 Testament Of Dr Mabuse.Dr Mabuse (Wolfgang Priess) has been locked away in an asylum for the insane for some time now.Well, since the end of Invisible Dr Mabuse anyway. The movie opens with a series of clockwork precision crimes.An armored car full of gold is heisted;the diamond exchange is robbed;a train carrying paper for the government to use to print money is hijacked.All of these crimes point to a very dangerous organization under the leadership of one man.But who is that man? Many clues including tips from a former corrupt police officer lead Inspector Lohman(Gert Frobe) to suspect Dr Mabuse.Lohman visits the asylum run by Dr Pohland(Walter Rilla) where Mabuse is being held.No one but the doctor has contact with Mabuse.All Mabuse does is write frantically 24 hours a day. Soon we find out that Mabuse has been hypnotizing Dr Pohland to carry out these crimes for him.Things get wild and wooly when Dr Pohland/Mabuse subjects Inspector Lohmann to shock treatments.Will Mabuse bring the country to its knees? This film is a lot better than critics will have you believe.I feel it ranks just behind 1000 Eyes Of Dr Mabuse and Scotland Yard Vs Dr Mabuse.My viewing pleasure was enhanced by watching a widescreen dubbed dvd version along with the commentary track as well.